Game 6: Championship victory
Final Series of the II Elite Cuban Baseball League
With the last out at the end of the sixth inning, it could be said that the II Elite Cuban Baseball League had a champion practically assured: the Crocodiles of Matanzas devoured the Hunters with a five-run rally to make the score 12-5.
From the sixth inning on, the line score barely changed, except for updating counts, outs and, unfortunately for the Hunters, a barrage of costly defensive errors. In the blink of an eye, the challenging Game 6 that began with Denis Laza's three-run homer and the admirable combativeness of the Hunters, ended as the Crocodiles began this postseason: with a hit festival.
Raymond Figueredo, the “blue hope” of the Hunters, only completed one matchup against the Crocodiles lineup. He allowed three unearned runs in the first inning on a throwing error by third baseman Dayán García. And then, in the second inning, he got two outs and had to leave the mound due to discomfort in his pitching arm. For Matanzas, another right-hander, Renner Rivero, who had not pitched for 13 days, also succumbed to the sound of the wood. As early as the second inning, Game 6 — life or death for the Hunters — became a battle of the bullpens. And in that fight, the advantage was not for the “hunter.”
The manager of the Crocodiles, Armando Ferrer, did not hesitate to mobilize his main relievers. He gave the ball to veteran Noelvis Entenza, who guaranteed 3 ¹/₃ scoreless innings. After the first threat, when Artemisa loaded the bases at the beginning of the sixth, he did not hesitate to bring in Frank Luis Medina.
Five pitches later, Yordan Manduley once again performed a defensive gem, catching a ground ball from Yoán Moreno for a force out at second base. The play was contested by Artemisa, but the out was not annulled.
The Hunters' bullpen was bombed: the relievers supported two runs in the fifth inning — Samón broke the tie with a home run against Yunieski García — and a five-run rally in the sixth. Despite his great effort, playing without recovering from a sprain since the Semifinal against Industriales, Yunieski García could not contain the Crocodiles. And then Maikel Taylor also exploded: he allowed a single by José Amaury Noroña, a home run by Ariel Sánchez, and a triple by Manduley.
The Hunters had opportunities, but the offense did not react again. Although the beginning seemed to herald a challenge with hits, during several key moments the absences of Frederich Cepeda and Luis González in the Artemisa lineup were felt.
The run differential anticipated an unexpected ending. And, although the Hunters did not give up, at the beginning of the last third of the game everything seemed decided. It was a matter of time before the Crocodiles were crowned champions.
You know, normally, I've brought a few categories here, but since there won't be any more games, I wanted to write a little about how the Crocodiles finally became champions. Here are five keys that fueled the path to the title.
1. The unstoppable offensive of the Crocodiles
Wasn't it what we expected? Of course! And so it happened: the Matanzas offensive was practically unstoppable. There were only two pitchers who managed to dominate the Crocodiles: 1) Yadián Martínez, who reinforced the Las Tunas Lumberjacks and extended a “no-hitter” until the end of the sixth inning in Game 2 of the Semifinal. And, 2) Erlys Casanova, who pitched scoreless innings and was successful 3-2 in Game 4 of the Final.
Starting rotation pitchers like left-handers Dariel Góngora (Las Tunas) and Geonel Gutiérrez (Artemisa) were shelled. Góngora lost both of his starts, posting a 9.72 ERA in 8 ¹/₃ innings of durability, where he allowed 13 hits, seven of them extra-base hits (four doubles and three home runs). After reaching the postseason with a streak of 12 scoreless innings against the Crocodiles, Góngora was able to strike out only three of his 41 opponents. Geonel also went through multiple tribulations. Although he managed to avoid the attack in his first start during Game 1 of the Finals, allowing four runs (one unearned) in six innings, he ended up being devoured in the all-important Game 5. During 2 ¹/₃ innings, he reached base in nine of the 14 opponents he faced, six of them by hit and he walked three.
Going through the center of the lineup with Yurisbel Gracial, Yordanis Samón and Rusney Castillo was a challenge that the pitchers from Las Tunas could not overcome. During the Semifinal, the Gracial-Samón-Rusney trilogy hit 10 of the 13 home runs that the Crocodiles hit against the Lumberjacks' pitching. And then, the homers continued to mark key moments against the Artemisa Hunters in the Final. In fact, the total record of 19 home runs in this postseason equaled the record set by Agricultores in the I Liga Elite for 11 games.
In each success of the Crocodiles, the extra bases hits were decisive in turning the score around: José Amaury Noroña defined Game 1 with a timely home run off José Ignacio Bermúdez at the end of the eighth inning, to give the Crocodiles a 6-5 lead.
On the way to victory in Game 3, two more homers made the difference: a two-run homer by Eduardo Blanco at the start of the fourth inning, which gave them a 4-3 lead. And, three innings later, a solo homer through center field by Erisbel Arruebarena, to put the Crocodiles ahead, 5-4. The story of Game 6 last night closed the chapter on the home run record: Yordanis Samón broke the five-run tie by devouring a pitch from Yunieski García at the end of the fifth, and Ariel Sánchez repeated the dose against a pitch from Maikel Taylor, starting the sixth.
With the 12-5 victory in Game 6, the Crocodiles ended up recording 83 runs scored in 12 games, which gives an impressive average of 6.9 per game. The closest team was the Hunters, who combined for 4.5. From start to finish, power was the Crocodiles' biggest potential, and their top hitters lived up to expectations.
Gracial (5) and Samón (5) registering a combined number of 10 home runs and 20 RBIs, power that led the attack against the Lumberjacks in the Semifinal. And then, in the Final against the pitching of the Hunters, the swings of Erisbel Arruebarena (3) and Eduardo Blanco (4) dictated the sentence: they drove the tying run or the lead on the scoreboard seven times.
The big problem is that the threat was not just Gracial or Samón, who occupied the turns in the center of the lineup. Any Crocodiles batter could surprise with strong contact, capable of becoming an extra base hit. The Hunters couldn't stop them, especially in key moments. That pitching inability made the difference.
2. Eduardo Blanco and his MVP impact
.478. What does it mean? Yes, it's a number that seems to sound good. And it is. This is Eduardo Blanco's devastating batting average with runners in scoring position during these playoffs. Nobody could reach him. But, Blanco was also the leader in hits (19), stolen bases (3), and second in RBIs (12). When hitting into double plays became a daily exercise for hitters throughout the postseason, no infield combination managed to put Blanco out in 49 plate appearances.
Blanco's impact, even before finishing Game 6 of the Final, I think he had already won considerable votes to obtain an MVP award: he was key in three of the Crocodiles' four victories during the Final, contributing timely hitting and a unquantifiable defensive work — I still wonder what rating Blanco would have as a center fielder if the StatCast radars were released in the National Series. He stole home runs, caught extra-base fly balls, and broke up rallies by making surprising throws to the bases.
Sometimes he seems unstoppable: he hits the ball without great pretensions, towards wherever the pitch comes from — or, even, towards where a play has to be executed, in case it is a “hit and run”. He never gives up when he tries to catch a fly ball, no matter how much it might expose his physicality. By the way, it would be reasonable not to challenge the power of his right arm. Blanco runs from home plate to first as if it were his last ride.
Unlike his early years, when he stopped pitching, his swing has pulverized the bloated swing-and-miss rates that dogged him. But beyond all his tools, and how he has become a player to follow in the current national circuit, Blanco stands out for his overflowing passion within the field of baseball. The inexhaustible energy to contribute to each success of the Crocodiles becomes Blanco's fuel. That is the life story that statistics cannot reflect, although each positive metric definitely translates into an accumulation of individual contributions.
So, if it's about impact: Eduardo Blanco looked and performed at the level of an MVP.
3. Frank Luis Medina: key piece of the bullpen
Since the regular season, the Crocodiles' bullpen looked impressive, but when the postseason arrived, the bullpen became much stronger. Several starters moved into possible situational roles in the bullpen. However, in the Final, depth was not necessary, and you know why: Frank Luis Medina was the reliever charged with taking responsibility in each decisive situation. And, as expected, his performance was virtually flawless: during the Finals, he pitched 10 ¹/₃ innings, more than four of the team's five starters, and left the Hunters within a run.
Despite his usual fastball velocity of 90-91 mph — bordering on 93-95 on several pitches — Medina's main strategy was to throw strikes. He wants to beat hitters. And staying aggressive in the strike zone even if that strategy made him more vulnerable to contact. In the end, his work was impeccable: he faced 42 batters without walking, and allowed no extra bases.
That's all the Crocodiles needed, dominant performances to support the starting pitching. Medina fulfilled his role, along with Noelvis Entenza and Armando Dueñas Jr., who combined to record 12 ¹/₃ innings without allowing earned runs throughout the Final.
4. Yoenis Yera, starting rotation ace
Yes, it sounds strange: Yera finished the postseason with a 2.3% strikeout rate, which is quite far from his historical rate of 21.4% before pitching in the II Elite League. In fact, in the I Liga Elite playoffs (2023), Yera's rate was 23 K%. Still, the trends did not seem entirely negative. The reduction in strikeouts was significant, but what Yera needed was to get outs. He tries to advance as many innings as possible. Yera's strategy was to prevent the relievers from entering the game at a disadvantage.
As a rotation starter, Yera once again lived up to expectations: he was the only pitcher with three wins during the postseason, posting a 2.35 ERA. Two of his wins made the difference in favor of the Crocodiles, providing advantages in Games 5 against Las Tunas (Semifinal) and Artemisa (Final), respectively.
Of that we are clear: it was not his most brilliant playoffs and, of course, the team's support also weighs. However, there is one point that we should not ignore: Yera was the most outstanding “rotation ace”, while other pitchers such as Dariel Góngora (Las Tunas), Reemberto Barreto (Industriales) and Geonel Gutiérrez (Artemisa) did not meet their expectations in the postseason.
5. The SS-2B combination, Arruebarena-Manduley
As is often the case, the offense almost always takes the main headlines in baseball, but we often cannot forget how much defensive work influences winning games. Sometimes the difference between an average infielder and a superstar escapes us on routine plays. While there are players who are good at locating themselves on the field and anticipating a possible play, there are others who do not even make the effort to stop a ground ball. As we saw in multiple sets — this, without referring to the errors, simply analyzing the range of each fielder —, that is one of the notable differences between the range of coverage of the SS-2B combination of the Crocodiles, Erisbel Arruebarena and Yordan Manduley, compared to, say, the Hunters duo of Osbel Pacheco and Raúl González.
The ability to field and throw on the move — like Manduley's assist that forced Pacheco to end the sixth inning—, catch fly balls in short outfield territory, and execute an effective pivot that completes double plays, was an indisputable advantage exhibited by the Crocodiles.
The final numbers don't seem coherent, but they were sensational!: Matanzas made 14 double plays in six games against the Hunters — including five in Game 4, four of them while pitching by right-hander César García, who covered first twice. Apart from the errors in the baserunning that pulverized offensive opportunities for the Hunters, the effectiveness in double plays of the Matanzas infield was key.
The Hunters may have been able to stay in the game, but they committed seven errors in their final game of the year. Yes, never doubt it: the defense also decides championships.